The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-09-16
PILOTS POOL DISSOLVED.
THE PILOT BOAT ODELL WITH
DRAWS FROM THE COMPANY.

DRAWS FROM THE COMPANY.
Lively Times and Long Cruises
Probable Dissolution of the Pilots
Company-Some Interesting Facts
About tho Service.
Yesterday Capt. w ]. Thompson, of the
pilot boat Odell, gave notice to
the Pilots Company that he would
withdraw his boat on Oct, , and
cruise Independently. This means
lively contest for the pilotage fees of the
port, and will probably result in other boats
withdrawing and in q general opposition,
each boat cruising on its own responsibility.
There is no more welcome sight to the
tempest-tossed mariner in approaching the
coast than the little pilot boat with its crew
of men who know the dangerous shoals,
reefs, and rocks which lie between deep
water and safe harbor. They are of
more Importance than the lighthouses,
which, while they mark the shore,
do not always point out the
safe channel. The trained pilot can
bring his vessel to a safe anchorage without
chart or buoy the marks upon the land,
which are invisible to others, but which
have been pointed out to him by his elders,
during his apprenticeship, are often his
guides.
The pilot boat is we'll known to seafaring
men, and those who live in maritime cities,
like Savannah, by their appearance. They
are staunch, well-built little schooners.
They sit low in the water and are fast sail
ers. Their tall. tapering masts, and neat,
trim appearance whether under canvass,
or nesting quietly at anchor in the harbor,
reminds one of the typical, piratcal schoon-
er of the old time novel, when the bold free
booter of sea, instead of the freebooter of
railway trains, was the hero of yellow
covered literature. All that is neces-
sary to complete the picture is
to fill the decks with what are commonly
known on shore as ''troughs," and the pilot
schooner would easily be changed to a
pirate schooner. In the dangerous ser
vice in which they are employed it is neces-
sary for the safety of the lives of their crew
that the boats should be always in condition
to withstand storms, hurricanes, or
cyclones, and before going on a cruise every
thing from ''kelson" to ''top-masth is ex-
amined critically by the pilot captain.
The pilots of port are absolutely neces-
sary to its commerce For several years
past the pilots of the Savannah river and
bar have had what is known as a company
or pool, by which the earnings of all the
pilot boats and pilots have been put into one
common treasury, and then divided accord
ing to the rules governing the pilotage,
namely each pilot getting his share according
to his certificate or branch The boats are,
as general rule, owned by pilots in shares
of one-sixteenth and upwards Under the
law passed last year there can be no APP
prentices taken until the number of pilots is
reduced to twenty. Previously, however,
the crew of a pilot boat was made
up of apprentice pilots. They had to
serve a certain number of years and then
received certificate as 9-foot pilot, that
Is they were permitted to pilot vessels of that
draught or less, and were gradually adj
vanced in grade until they attained
sufficient proficiency to pilot
vessel of any draught of water
The highest grade is that of a
'branch" pilot, and few attain to that
until they had reached the age of % to %
years. These laws still maintain, but "A
number of years must elapse before an ap-
prentice can again tread the decks of these
''stormy petrels" of commerce.
The pilot boats crew must now be hired,
and usually consists of boatkeeper, a cook,
and two to three seamen, the number of the
latter depending upon the size of the boat
There are eight boats in the pilotage, namely
the Neca, Sprite, Odell, Dickerson, Jones,
Wilder, Pet and Belle. The largest boat is
Ine OueH ana Cne SfflalleSJ Jn6 ret. Under
the company system, four of these
boats have been kept in service,
one boat staying out at sea, or on the outer
station, and the other in Tybee Roads
This arrangement saved considerable ex-
pense 10 the pilots in crew hire and wear
and tear of their vessels.
There has been some dissatisfaction among
sEe pilots since the passage of the law by
which their earnings were reduced to about
two-thirds of what they were, and for some
time past there has been an evident desire
among some of the pilots to return to the
old independent system of every boat for
itself, by which the pilots who work the
hardest earn the most pay. Such a service
is harder upon the pilots, who then cruise
far out in the ocean in search of vessels and
brave dangers that would make the braveSt
landsman feel that his last day had come.
The return to the old plan of Independent
boats will be of a great advantage to the
commerce of the port, though the service
entailed upon the pilots will be much more
dangerous and arduous than under the COM
pany or pool Vessels bound in will hero
after meet pilot boats far off the coast, with
pilots ready to take them in charge and
f'ilst them into safe harbor.